Budget headphones are a category of product where the bar for quality has been been dragged through the garden and left on the compost heap to rot. It seems impossible to find a cheap pair of earphones that sound great with a build quality to match.

So it’s refreshing to see the Infinity One [No Longer Available], a pair of $25 earphones that don’t suck, and far more interesting to hear that they are the work of two young teenage brothers.

We have five pairs of Infinity Ones to give away, so read through this review, then join the giveaway.

To Infinity

I realised how unimportant perceived sound quality really could be when I first saw the mirrors next to the headphones in a local electronics store. It’s not like sporting overpriced bits of plastic around your neck is anything new, but it is a trend that highlights the power of fashion over common sense or financial sensibility.

Step in Infinity One, a pair of entry level in-ear headphones from Melbourne-based Sacred Sound Audio. At AU$25, they’re cheaper than Apple’s own EarPods (included with every iPhone), and come with three sizes of earbuds together with a light man-made carrying case.

These aren’t any old earphones, but the work of a small and young two-man team who wanted earphones that sounded good regardless of genre of music being played. Simply put, these are the answer to cheap and nasty earphones built entirely with electronic music in mind. Classical? Check. Jazz? Why not. Ambient weirdness? Don’t mind if I do.

Design and Quality

The earphones themselves are silver and of all-metal construction, with rigid plastic to protect cable connections. These connect to the flat TPE-coated anti-tangle cabling, itself bordering on “Beats red” with a white microphone and single button found in the usual spot. All in all, the earphones look great and feel solid; it’s not often you find an all-metal outer driver construction in the sub-$30 earphone world.

The earphones sport custom 8 millimeter drivers which were engineered to provide a high quality of sound, regardless of genre, musician or song. This has traditionally not been the case, particularly among some of the more popular fashion brands (Beats, I’m looking at you). When audio products are designed to enhance bass above all else, clarity and detail is lost, particularly in non-electronic genres. The Infinity One earphones were designed so that would not be the case.

The Sound

The results are astonishing. Considering the price tag, the sound quality is really something to behold. It’s not going to change the world, but “better than average” doesn’t quite do it justice. They sound noticeably better than the asking price would suggest. Bass and treble are punchy without being overwhelming, thuds and rumbles trail off without getting muddy and losing detail.

As a result, the earphones don’t sound quite as artificially enhanced when it comes to modern electronic music, particularly compared to models designed with the genre in mind. This is great news if you have a diverse taste in music, where a bass-heavy response destroys the finer aspects of an orchestra or brass band.

There’s a definite raw-ness to the sound, but the Infinity One manages to surprise by unearthing endless detail. They don’t sound as warm or giving as my go-to Klipsch S4i (which cost many times their price), and they’re not as comfortable either, but they still manage to find a similar level of subtle background intricacies. I’ve been picking the Infinity One up when I leave the house for about two weeks now, and I’m never disappointed.

My only real complaint is that the silicon used for the earbuds is very soft and occasionally causes them to move or slip out, though the larger buds were just that little bit too big for my ears. On the plus side, this silicon makes the Infinity One far more comfortable than plastic found on other similarly priced models, and they were very comfortable over prolonged periods of use.

Living with the Infinity One

Considering the price, an all-metal outer-driver construction is very much appreciated, as is the TVP-coating on the flat cable – it doesn’t tangle easily. Each driver has a hard-yet-flexible plastic end to guard against tearing at it directly. The jack is protected from repeated tugging by a hard plastic pinched end, and this itself does look like it should be treated with care.

The worst part of the construction is probably the microphone, and while there’s nothing wrong with the call quality, you won’t want to be recording any podcasts with it. It’s very difficult to fault Sacred Sound Audio for $25, but you always have to question how long one expects a pair of sub-$30 earphones will last.

They do come with a light carry case, which offers limited protection, but you might want to find something a little tougher.

Designed by Teenagers

Sacred Sound Audio is really just the name for two Melbourne, Victoria-based teenagers with a vision. Rupert (15) and Tristan (13) Buesst are two classical musicians tired of the same old listening experience regardless of the amount they spend.

“We gradually got pretty tired of buying audio products that were designed only to sound good for one or two genres, or products in which the sound quality hadn’t even been thought about,” Rupert told me.

“We decided to create something that would sound great for all genres, and would also look fantastic.”

The pair put a lot of time and research into the project: “It took longer to get the sound of the drivers right, and we both spent many hours listening to our various driver designs and trying to find the sweet spot.”

The sweet spot was a driver that performed well over as many genres as possible, and the team are pleased with what fans are saying: “We’ve had heaps of great feedback so far. We get messages saying – ‘these sound better than a pair that cost five times the price’.”

As if this tale of sonic ability, build quality and adolescent entrepreneurship wasn’t enough, there’s a philanthropic angle too: 20 per cent of Sacred Sound’s profits go to the Yatra Foundation, an Indian charity established to provide education to poor children. Oh, and did I mention they sound great?

Quality Budget Earphones

Cheap headphones aren’t everyone’s thing, but if you’re looking for inexpensive headphones that are well-built and respecting if the music you choose to listen to, they’re an excellent choice. As for Rupert and Tristan?

“We will definitely keep doing this. We currently have a few more projects in the works and we can’t wait to show the world our next!” – you can follow the boys on Twitter or Facebook.

MakeUseOf recommends: Buy them if you’re looking for cheap headphones with great build quality that won’t muddy more delicate sounds with too much bass.

How do I win the Sacred Sound Infinite One?

You may enter by submitting your name and email address. You’ll receive one entry simply by doing so.

After that, you’ll also be offered various methods to earn additional entries. They range from sharing a link to this giveaway on social networks; to commenting or visiting a specific page. The more you participate, the higher your chances of winning! You will receive 5 additional entries into the giveaway for every successful referral via your shared links.

This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, April 4. The winner will be selected at random and informed via email. View the list of winners here.

The Winner

Congratulations, Sharon Haas, Abigail Ong, Safwan Khatri, Raymond Lagria, Stephen Ollis! You would have received an email from jackson@makeuseof.com. Please respond before May 22 to claim your prize. Enquires beyond this date will not be entertained.

Send your products to be reviewed. Contact Jackson Chung for further details.

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Samir

April 27, 2014 at 4:01 pm

I just revieved these earphones through the mail (live in the US) after ~ 2 weeks of ordering. The sound quality is clean and excellent; the cables do no get tangled, and it feels like a premiumpair of earphones. I don't really see the use of the in-line mic since I don't use it, but for those with smartphones it'll probably be a great incentive for them.Although the packaging and the added accessories that come with it are simple, the arphones really make the package. It's a good investment and you won;t be dissapointed; it's also priced much lower than products that may be on par with these ($25).

I received my pair a couple of days ago here in New Jersey. These are fantastic earphones and a great value. I have a pair of 200 dollar headphones that I have stopped using for these. The earphones produce a well balanced, crisp sound. The anti-tangle cables also work well.

Mine just arrived and rarely have I been so pleased by sound at any price. To call these a bargain is a vast understatement. I have quite a collection of 'phones of all types for research purposes at all price levels and nothing can even compare to these.

They sound like balanced armature rather than diaphragm transducer. The closest thing I can compare them to is my Etymotic ER-4P. They have the same surgical precision in the mid/upper range with a much better low end that isn't isn't the least hyped. Pretty close to perfect in my professional estimation.

I have a hard time with ear bud style headphones. I talk, they pop out, I yawn, they pop out. I have a pair of JL over the head headphones. Great sound quality and they were free. I won them from Mountain Dew 4 years ago.

I doubt I'll be buying a pair, but I would love to win a pair! I've only got a pair of Sennheiser HD 201 right now, which are great for over-ear (and for the price), but I keep finding myself in need of a quality pair of in-ear headphones.

Wait...
The official rules state that you must be of legal age.
Aw shucks, looks like I won't win. :(
But the earphones were made by two people of non-legal age (one of which is the same age as me!), so I'll keep my fingers crossed. :D

Will consider a pair if I do not win one, I have wrecked quite a few pairs with just normal use so some that last would be a godsend. At the moment I use apple one which look and feel good quality but don't last me longer than 6 months

I might buy these. They seem pretty good for the cheap price. My go-to earphones are my standard old Apple Earphones that are breaking in various places (not the earPODS, the old earPHONES with the remote control). I have a pair of Nakamichi headphones for my desktop for home use.

Probably not. I'm a pretty big Skullcandy fan. I really like that they have a lifetime warranty so I don't have to worry about breaking them. The inkd's are in this price point too. I've been using the wooden holua ear buds but I also use the skullcandy cassettes in my ski helmet.

$25 is "budget?" I consider $6 - $10 "budget," $11 - $20 midrange (for a decent pair), and if I'm paying more than $20, I'd damn well better get excellent quality sound, and I would think that only an audiophile should pay more than $30 for earbuds.

Yes I would like a pair! It is after all not easy to find a well balanced earphones especially for a very reasonable price. I've been through pairs.
For now, I always use Sennheiser MM70 and Bose QuietComfort 3

I just don't have to motivation to buy more headphones since I have a couple of them already that came with my mp3 players and other electronics. My go to headphones is the one that came with my iphone.

I use MEElectronics ear buds that have memory wire that raps over the ears, which is great for holding them in place for running, biking etc. . . that I use them for. I paid $12 for them on Amazon, and I'm very happy with them. So no I wouldn't pay twice as much for the Infinity One.

The best value (what you get vs what you pay) I have found so far in earbuds to date have been the "Jellybeans" by JVC. I greatly prefer in-canal vs outer ear, but that's just my preference. I'm going to be looking for these in the future though!

The best value (what you get vs what you pay) I have found so far in earbuds to date have been the "Jellybeans" by JVC. I greatly prefer in-canal vs outer ear, but that's just my preference. I'm going to be looking for these in the future though!

I spend a lot of money and then the headphones die. Over and over. Doesn't matter how expensive they are, they all seem to stop working. So $25 sounds much better, and if they KEEP working, so much the better -- in fact, THAT would be a winner!!

I don't think I would be buying these, mainly because I have a pair of over-ear headphones from Pioneer and they work great for me as they are now. There's a problem with them though: I can't use them much. I live in a dorm and travel home every friday and come back every sunday, so I have time to listen to music on the bus for ~45minutes. Whilst being in the dorm I lend my headset to another student every week because I have speakers in my room, I also don't have that much time to listen music through my headset in the week because of all the time that goes under studying, although some weeks aren't like others and there are days I wish I could use my headset all the time.

I'm so cheap that I have a hard time justifying even $25 for headphones, but if I was going to buy any, it sounds like these would be the way to go. I can't stand the usual in-ear buds, but with the 3 sizes that these offer, and the silicon padding, they might just do the trick.

Based upon the review, I would certainly consider purchasing a pair of these earbuds. In order to protect my hearing, I mostly use a bone conducting headset these days, but there are some environments where earbuds are necessary. These would be perfect in those situations.

I'd buy them after reading this article. This pair seems to offer good quality for the asked price. My current pair (original HTC One headphones) is still rocking tho so it'll have to wait until they die or i win ! :)